In the Spolight, Behind the Scenes
by Lila Nightengale
Summary: In the Chris McLean's Extravaganza Circus, you had to work hard to play hard. The Performers dazzled the crowd while the people backstage kept everything running smoothly. But of course there was drama. Lovers, friendships, rivalries, all of these made or broken. The Show WILL go on. With or without you. Welcome to the Circus. (Rating may go up.)
1. Want to Join the Circus?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Total Drama Franchise. **

So this was an idea that I had in my head for a while and I have already been working on. This has a mix of both Original and New cast members set in a Circus setting. I will upload the other chapters that are already on my tumblr quickly, but I would love to know your thoughts! Endgames are AleHeather, Dott, Chref, and others as I decide them. This is just the starter chapter and I will upload the list of everyone's part in the circus later. Please Read and Review, Constructive criticism is always helpful. Hope you enjoy it!

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You didn't even know why you were here. The circus was for babies, after all. But considering that you didn't have to pay for the stupid ticket, you might as well go. It's a giant tent, big and red and striped. Like something out of a cartoon. You hand the ticket person yours and receive a stub of the original. The flaps are open and people are going in. You take a seat and wait for this thing to start. The sooner it starts, the sooner it ends. You gaze down at the paper in your hand. **_The Chris McLean's Extravaganza! _**Even the ticket is a bit gaudy and you groan.

Suddenly the lights go out, the tent flaps are closed. A spotlight highlights the center of the ring as a man rises from the ground. You assume he is the ring leader and your thoughts are confirmed not a second later.

"Hello! And welcome to The Chris McLean's Extravaganza! I am Chris McLean and I will show you a world filled with deadly, terrifying, and beautiful acts! The faint of heart should beware… My circus is filled with the most fantastic of acts. There is real danger involved but I am willing to let my acts take that risk for your entertainment pleasure. Now, _**LET THE SHOW **__**BEGIN!**_" He gestures and the show begins.

What happens next are the greatest moments of your life. The animals, the sounds, the effects. All of them combined to create this spectacular show. The acts are entrancing and you can't look away. You gasp in horror, gape in awe, and cheer with triumph. You never want it to end. But it does and you can't help but hang around.

"Hey kid!" You turn and find the ringmaster calling you. "I noticed your face in the crowd. It had the same look as the others did before they joined." He laughs "They thought it was all fun and games and hung around just like you. They didn't know that it was hard grueling work. Especially when you work in my circus."

You are shocked and don't know if he is offering what you think he is offering.

"Well?" He presses. He smiles a charming grin and even if it is filled with mischief and sadistic anticipation, you know that he knows you won't refuse. "Want to join the Circus?"


	2. An Average Day

On an average day, it is Chef who gets up first. He gets out of bed, grumbling while he does so, and makes his way to the kitchen tent. He reads any sticky notes that Chris might have left him before he went to bed. Todays note reads 'Newbies I think it was three it might have been more.' Chef rolls his eyes and glares at the sleeping man in his bed. 'And I guess he just expects me to magically have enough food or everyone?' There a lot of mouths to feed in a circus this big, and Chris didn't make it any easier since he liked to indulge himself all the time. Chef couldn't complain to badly though, he did get a lot of perks off of Chris' indulgences too. So Chef started to cook.

Chef had a system, when he first started to cook, he cooked for the Crew first. He always made simple oatmeal, ham and eggs. He made it in large quantities and whoever didn't get breakfast didn't get breakfast. He used to make the crew eat gruel, but that opened up windows of opportunities for people to sue. So Oatmeal, Ham, and eggs it is. After he finished cooking, he rang the bell out side the tent twice. Then the Helpers would wake their sorry asses up and get food. After they were finished eating, they got their assignments and went to work. The biggest pain in the ass was cooking for the performers. The only performer who didn't eat something different was DJ, he came down to breakfast with the crew and tended to the animals. Each performer had specific tastes and Chef had to make them all or one of them threw a bitch fit.

*cough*Courtney*cough*Heather*cough* Alejandro*cough. Divas. All three. He has some of the crew take a tray to their respectful owner and then he gets started on Chris' food. Even though this was the longest part of breakfast, since Chris refused to eat anything that wasn't considered high class, Chef enjoyed this part the most. Chris' menu always changed and he liked creating delicious food out of regular ingredients. He delivers this tray personally, and he wakes up Chris as he slides under the blanket again. Chris will shriek that his feet are cold but will always move his feet closer to Chef's to warm them up faster.

Scott was always the one who delivered Dawn's food. It was always something vegan but the actual dishes were different. Today it was French toast, muffins, fruit, and orange juice. He carried it with care and he stepped carefully, lest he spill any of her food. When he reached her tent he called out, "Dawn? You up yet?" He was careful not to go into her tent without confirmation that she was, indeed, up. One look at her in her pajamas and Scott wasn't able to talk to her for a week. "Yes, I am decent." her reply was muffled but Scott walked in and set the tray on her table. Since Dawn was a performer, she was granted her own tent and decorated it as she liked. Her tent was filled with plants and insects and animals. He wondered if DJ let themloose again before shrugging.

"I uh, brought you your breakfast."

She smiles and the sound of her voice is soft with sleep. "Thank you Scott, I know that you have other things to do so I appreciate it. How do you like my tent? I redecorated yesterday."

"It's.. uh, beautiful Dawn…" He drifts off, staring at her and blushes bright red before shuffling out of there. "Well I got to go. See ya"

"Idiot." he murmurs to himself outside the tent, he really needs to get better at this 'talking' thing.

'The best part of being a performer', Heather decides, 'is that you never have to wake up as early as the damn Crew did anymore'.

In Chris' circus, there was a hierarchy of power.

Newbies started at the bottom, helping out with the jobs that nobody wants to do and working long hours. Once they've been here a while, Chef gives them particular chores or jobs that match their skill set. Assistants are chosen by a performer or leader. Leaders are picked by Chris from the assistants. If you want to be a performer, you have to practice your act when you have time off. If Chris likes your act then he adds it to the show. If he doesn't, you get sent back down to Newbie level.

Thankfully, there are shortcuts. In Chris' case, flattery got you everywhere. Need some time off to practice your act, ask him if he got more handsome. Want to make someone else do that gross chore you hate? Tell Chris that so and so said they saw a gray hair on his head.

So Heather scratched and clawed her way up. She created her act as a solo act and she hated that Alejandro got in on Her act because Chris thought it would be cool. But a duo act was better than no act and she was NOT going to be on the Crew anymore. So she put up with the Latin asshole, who couldn't stop flirting with everybody if he tried, and she had to admit that they made a good team together. Even if she didn't like him. Heather trusted him to be perfect. Because that's what he was. Perfect…

Heather caught her dreamy little sigh and quickly changed it into a sound of disgust. It was just her luck that Alejandro chose that moment to walk into her tent, unannounced, and grin at her. "Thinking of me again, mi amor?" he questioned with one eyebrow raised. In his hands, he held both his and Heather's breakfast trays. He set them down on her table and sat in one of her chairs.

"As if!" She quickly declared. "Who told you that you can just come and go from my tent as you please? And why do you have my tray? Get out!" She sat up on her bed and pulled her dressing gown around herself.

Alejandro merely greeted her bad mood with a look of bemusement. "I passed the helper with your tray and simply relieved them of their burden." He didn't mention that the helper was male. "And I thought it would be nice to eat breakfast with my partner. Is that such a crime?" His eyes looked innocent thought Heather knew that he was anything but.

"I don't want to have breakfast with you. It's bad enough that I have to share the spotlight with you, why would I want to spend anymore time than necessary with you?" In spite of her words, Heather walked to the table and sat across from him. Alejandro smiled but didn't speak and lifted both tray covers. They ate in silence, each enjoying their respective meals. When conversation did begin, it was a discussion of the new show coming up. Where it was going to be, when, and new things that they would like to try in practice. It was calm, and Alejandro and Heather had been doing this for a while now. Every now and again they would eat together, talking civilly -and even nicely- and ignoring everything that was outside of the tent.


	3. Newbies

Ok, so I did some research and I tried to write Mike as best as I could. Please keep in mind that I mean absolutely no offense to anyone and that this is my first time writing him. That being said, I image the cast/crew to be around 20-25 with Chris and Chef being at _least 40 minimum, _I mean... 35 tops. I tried to keep everyone in character and I hope I didn't do that bad of a job but I feel like I matured them a bit. So this part is pretty long since I just didn't really know when to stop it! Hahaha Hope you enjoy it!

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Every week, Courtney, Noah, and Cameron had meetings. In these meetings, they talked about previous performances and future ones. They talked about money and where Chris wanted the next show to be and how soon. They also talked about any problems that might have arisen during the course of the previous week. There were four newbies starting tomorrow and they had to figure out who could show them the ropes.

"How about B? Everyone likes him!" suggested Cameron.

"He doesn't ever talk, how are they supposed to learn anything? Psh, please. I doubt anyone of them are going to be a mind reader." Courtney shoots down the suggestion quickly. "How about Scott?"

"Oh yeah, let's give one of the most devious guys around a job that involves people dependent on him. Need I remind you about the red ants? Besides, he would probably just dump them on someone else to deal with. Namely, me." Noah says casually. "Besides, I think he's busy helping DJ out anyway."

"Hmm…" Cameron thinks for a bit before he perks up. "How about Beth? She's nice."

"You would have to ask Heather and you know how she gets about people borrowing her assistant." Noah replied.

"How about Mike?" Both men turn to look at Courtney. "I mean it. He's nice, everyone seems to like him. Plus," she flips through her agenda, "it looks like he's free."

"Well.. It does seem reasonable…" Cameron pondered. "And he has been having a lot more good days lately." He nods. "I'll have to ask him, but it should be alright."

"Alright, it's settled. As long as I don't have to do it." Noah comments.

Courtney instantly takes charge. "Now, on to important business. Chris says he wants the next show to be…" and the meeting goes on.

Early the next morning, Cameron approaches Mike as he is picking up trash around the campsite, clipboard in hand.

"Hey Mike? You got a minute?"

Mike puts the trash in the bag in his other hand and turns to his old friend. "Sure buddy, what's up?" Cameron has been his best friend for years, he was the person to show Mike around when he started. He smiled at the memory and focused on what Cameron was saying.

"Well," starts Cameron "there are some newbies starting today and we where wondering if you could show them around? If it's not to much trouble." he hastens to add on. "If your busy or you don't want to then-"

"Cam, it's alright, it's alright!" Mike laughs "I'm not that scared kid on the first day anymore! I've got deals with my alters and been having a lot more good days because of it if that's what you're worried about."

"You do?" Mike is his best friend and he doesn't want him to feel like Cameron was babying him but he also didn't want to push Mike into doing something he didn't want to do.

Mike nods confidently. "Yeah, I keeps a notepad in my pocket that tells me what's going on." He pats his breasts pocket and takes out a small notepad. He flips to todays page and shows it to Cameron. It reads, 'Odd jobs, find something to do.' And underneath says 'cleanup duty. picking up trash.' "That way is we switch, we aren't as confused by what's going on. And as long as we get the days workload done, whoever is in control can go do whatever they want. So I talked to Heather and DJ about it. Heather and Alejandro said they don't mind if Svetlana borrows their equipment as long as she cleans up after herself and they aren't using it. DJ said that Manitoba can practice taming the animals when he feels like it. Him and Vito like to flirt with girls when Vito isn't working out so as long as it doesn't go to far I'm alright with it. And if it does to tell the girls upfront that it's them and they use protection." He smiles shyly "I keep of those in my pocket too. And usually Chester will go find Chef or a rocking chair to talk about his glory days."

"And that helps?" Cameron asked. While Cameron was extremely smart, he didn't know how Mike's mind worked and he always wanted to support him.

Mike nods. "It was really hard there for awhile. You saw us, you know." One of his feet taps the ground with his toes. "But we feel like it has gotten better and it feels better now." He smiles softly before his attention snaps back to Cameron. "So when do the newbies begin? And how many are there anyway?" He questions.

Cameron lifts his clipboard and flips a few pages. "Uhm, four. Brick, Geoff, Jo, and Leshawna. They should still be in the mess hall." Cameron smiles at Mike and pushes his glasses up. "Just show them the ropes and then take them to Chef."

Mike nods again and writes in his notepad. "and Leshawna… Ok we should be fine. Do you want me to introduce them to everyone?" He glances up from his notepad, pen still connected to the paper.

Cameron shrugs, "If you run into them sure, Chris just wants them to get to work." They both start to walk to the mess hall. "So how are things with you and Zoey? You ask her out yet? I heard that she got approval from Chris for her act. Exciting huh?" Cameron smiles, happy for his friends good fortune.

"Yeah, she is going to be the new tightrope walker." Mike looks around as they get closer to the mess hall. "And no, I haven't asked her out yet. She's been busy and I've been… I don't know Cam. Some days are great and some days aren't." He shrugs good naturedly. "Besides, now that she's a performer, she's been hanging around Duncan a lot, and you know how that guy scares me." He chuckles. "Naw, I think it's best if I focus on me right now. Besides, if it was meant to be it will be. I think we have something, but I don't want it to define us, you know? Especially not when I finally think we are working well together."

They reach the tent and go inside. There are four people sitting at different tables spread out. It's quiet and Mike can feel the awkwardness that is usually associated with newbies. He grins in spite of himself and breaks the silence.

"Hey guys! I'm Mike, I'm a part of the backstage crew and I will be the one showing you around today!" His voice is perky and cheerful and the four newbies seem to relax some. "This is Cameron, and he's part of 'The Three' with Courtney and Noah. If they aren't to busy we should be able to meet them. How about we start off by introducing ourselves?" he looks expectantly at them and waits for someone to start.

No one speaks.

"Well it was nice to see you all, but I have to get back to work." Cameron smiles to the group. "I will be looking forward to working with you" He leaves writing on his clipboard and muttering to himself.

Mike turns back to the newbies. He gestures to the tall blonde guy with the cowboy hat. "So what's your name? Why did you decide to join?" The blonde guy grins cheerfully.

"The name's Geoff! I'm super psyched to be here and I joined because I love a good party!" He lifts a hand for a high-five and Mike returns it. 'He does know it's not just partying right?' He wonders.

"Ok, nice to meet you Geoff. How about you? Miss…" He asks the curvy black girl.

She smiles prettily and introduces herself. "Hey y'all, I'm Leshawna and I joined so that I can dance! I totally plan on becoming a dancer in the show." She starts to dance on the spot. At least, Mike thinks she's dancing. Her enthusiasm is great though and Mike smiles at her.

"That sounds awesome. I hope you do it!" She smiles back and stops dancing. The next boy stands ram-rod straight.

"Brick McArthur, reporting for duty! I have joined this fantastic establishment to gain experience in working as a part of a unified taskforce!" He salutes and stands straight ahead.

"Uhm…" Mike isn't sure what to do. "At ease soldier." Brick relaxes. "So that's all you want? Some work experience?"

Brick smiles sheepishly. "Well I also wanted to help with the costumes." He blushes and ducks his head.

"Hey that's alright. We can stop by Lindsay's tent later. She's the costume coordinator here. She's really sweet and nice, I'm sure she will take you underneath her wing!" Brick beams happily and nods. Mike turns to the last person, a tall blonde with a stern face.

"I'm Jo and I'm going to be the new strong woman. Got that beanpole?" She is confident in her manner and Mike respects her determination. Still, she is going to be gunning for Eva's job and Mike is aware of the last time someone threatened Eva's position. But it wasn't his place to be giving career advice.

"Ok so before we start, there are a few things you might want to be aware of. One, you wake up when Chef rings the bell or you don't get breakfast. Two, you _never_ wake up Chris. It's not pretty. Three, newbies work from six to nine, longer if there is a show that night. Don't worry, you get a thirty minute break every three hours. Four, lunch is at noon and dinner is at eight. Five, don't complain about the food. There are a few others and I will explain the dynamic of everyone when we cross those bridges. So now that we know each other, let's get going!"

And with that, Mike turns and walks out of the tent.


End file.
